Full Test Bank Religion Chapter 15

Test Bank

Chapter 15

In this revision of the test bank, I have updated all of the questions to reflect changes in Cultural Anthropology, 4e. There is also a new system for identifying the difficulty of the questions. In earlier editions, the questions were tagged in one of three ways: factual (recall of factual material), conceptual (understanding key concepts), and applied (application of sociological knowledge to a situation). In this revision, the questions are now tagged according to the six levels of learning that help organize the text. Think of these six levels as moving from lower-level to higher-level cognitive reasoning. The six levels are:

REMEMBER: a question involving recall of key terms or factual material

UNDERSTAND: a question testing comprehension of more complex ideas

APPLY: a question applying anthropological knowledge to some new situation

ANALYZE: a question requiring identifying elements of an argument and their interrelationship

EVALUATE: a question requiring critical assessment

CREATE: a question requiring the generation of new ideas

The ninety questions in this chapter’s test bank are divided into two types of questions. Multiple-choice questions span a broad range of skills (over half are “Remember” questions and the remainder are divided among three higher levels). Essay questions are the most demanding because they include the three highest levels of cognitive reasoning (from “Analyze” to “Create”) as well as lower levels.

Types of Questions

Easy to Difficult Level of Difficulty

MULTIPLE CHOICE

1. According to the Sioux creation story, which animal was able to swim down through the floodwaters and bring some mud back to the Creating Power?

a. The crow

b. The turtle

c. The otter

d. The beaver

2. The number __________ is sacred for many Native Americans.

a. two

b. three

c. four

d. seven

3. __________ is thoughts, actions, and feelings based on belief in the existence of spirit beings and supranormal forces.

a. Religion

b. Superstition

c. Magic

d. Sorcery

4. The Sioux creation story at the beginning of the chapter teaches the importance of ________________ so that the harmony of the world can be maintained.

a. blood

b. good behavior

c. agriculture

d. praying to the Creating Power

5. The term supernatural may not be the most fitting term to describe religion, as some societies __________.

a. do not know the meaning of the word supernatural

b. do not understand nature

c. regard the spirit realm as ever-present and a part of the natural world

d. think the spirit realm hardly ever communicates with humans

6. Religions include __________ that teach people ethical values and attitudes.

a. superstitions

b. rituals

c. worldviews

d. practices

7. Anthropologists analyze religious beliefs and rituals using __________ and __________ perspectives, reviewing objective conditions and subjective experiences.

a. narrative; personal

b. etic; emic

c. emic; etic

d. ethnographic; statistical

8. In the Sioux creation story, the first men and women were created from __________.

a. a white and a yellow eagle

b. the earth

c. a white and a yellow ear of corn

d. two buckskin blankets

9. __________ is/are invocations, prayers, prophecies, songs of praise, and curses that are powerful means of transmitting messages about the world and also how the world was created.

a. Religion

b. Religious specialists

c. Ceremonies

d. Religious speech

10. In __________ societies, relationships between deities or spirit beings tend to reflect the human relationships in that society.

a. democratic

b. egalitarian, stateless

c. Buddhist

d. modern

11. Ranked pantheons of deities are most usually found in __________ societies.

a. egalitarian

b. nonhierarchical

c. stateless

d. hierarchical

12. The household unit in classical Greece and Rome was represented by __________.

a. special priests

b. married male and female deities

c. child deities

d. kitchen goddesses

13. __________ are “governments by god.”

a. Theocracies

b. Priestly tyrannies

c. Cults of personality

d. Pantheons

14. Monotheistic religions are prevalent in societies that __________.

a. are tribal

b. are egalitarian

c. have a supreme ruler

d. have ritual specialists

15. Although rituals have symbolic meanings, performing rituals is aimed at __________.

a. teaching moral values

b. obtaining practical results

c. training religious specialists

d. proving the existence of deities

16. Which of the following has NOT been suggested as a reason for the origins of religion in anthropology?

a. Explaining the world

b. Emotional release

c. social control

d. Divine revelation

17. A __________ is the religious worldview of a people, including beliefs about the origin of the world, the pantheon of deities that exist, and their relationship to the spirit realm.

a. cosmology

b. religion

c. belief system

d. superstition

18. Which of the following is NOT an explanation for religion as a human universal?

a. Social cohesion

b. Economic adaptation

c. Social control

d. Limitations of current science for explaining everything in the world around us

19. The Tsembaga of Papua New Guinea practice a complex set of rituals concerning __________.

a. warfare

b. food acquisition

c. weather

d. funeral rites

20. __________ is belief in the existence of souls.

a. Religion

b. Animatism

c. Polytheism

d. Animism

21. Belief in the existence of numerous deities that have specific attributes, powers, and functions is called __________.

a. monotheism

b. animatism

c. polytheism

d. animism

22. __________ is the belief that all things are endowed with some spirit form or essence.

a. Animatism

b. Animism

c. Monotheism

d. Polytheism

23. What is the term for belief systems that hold to the existence of one supreme deity who has powers and knowledge that affect all aspects of life?

a. Animism

b. Monotheism

c. Animatism

d. Polytheism

24. Hinduism is a __________ religion.

a. polytheistic

b. monotheistic

c. animist

d. animatist

25. Semi-divine or human __________ are lesser religious beings who are important in stories and myths.

a. demons

b. souls

c. heroes

d. angels

26. Animists believe that even __________ possess spirits.

a. women

b. children

c. animals

d. inanimate objects

27. The Hopi believe in __________, or powerful spirits, who can bring rain.

a. gods

b. goddesses

c. kachinas

d. kivas

28. In Japan, the keeping of tablets that record the lives of dead male and female relatives and the performance of commemorative rituals for these tablets is known as __________.

a. Buddhism

b. Confucianism

c. animatism

d. ancestor worship

29. One nation where ancestor worship is a common feature of religion is __________.

a. Iran

b. Uruguay

c. Japan

d. Morocco

30. Which of the following societies considers ancestral spirits to bring rain?

a. Japanese

b. Hopi

c. Dani

d. Ju/’hoansi

31. The __________ consider ancestral spirits to be harmful, while the __________ consider them to be beneficial.

a. Ju/’hoansi; Hopi

b. Hopi; Ju/’hoansi

c. Japanese; Dani

d. Hopi; Dani

32. What is the term for a force, power, or essence that endows people, animals, other living things, and possibly inanimate objects with special qualities or powers?

a. Ghosts

b. Mana

c. Totemism

d. Animism

33. What is the term for a belief system in which people believe they are descendants of spirit beings?

a. Polytheism

b. Ancestor worship

c. Animatism

d. Totemism

34. Which of the following leads groups of related people or kin networks to worship their own particular deity?

a. Secret societies

b. Polytheism

c. Totemism

d. Animism

35. The concept of mana was first described in __________ societies.

a. Polynesian

b. Mexican

c. South African

d. Australian Aboriginal

36. Taboos are __________.

a. bad behaviors

b. restrictions on which people may have contact with religiously powerful objects

c. rulings on behaviors passed down from priests or shaman

d. the punishments for breaking religious rules decreed by theocratic governments

37. An example of a secret society would be __________.

a. Catholic monasteries

b. Christian seminaries

c. Australian Aboriginal men who are allowed to handle special ritual objects

d. Islamic madrasas

38. Which of the following is best described as a taboo?

a. Avoiding the ghosts of dead ancestors

b. Performing certain rituals only on certain occasions

c. Avoiding certain foods at certain times such as during pregnancy

d. Failing to perform the correct rituals for honoring dead ancestors

39. A __________ is a person who has special gifts to make contact with the spirit world, often in a state of trance.

a. medium

b. faith healer

c. priest

d. prophet

40. Persons with the power to predict the future through messages and omens from the spirit world are termed __________.

a. mediums

b. shamans

c. religious specialists

d. diviners

41. __________ are part-time religious specialists who make contact with the spirit world through prayer, ritual, and trance.

a. Oracles

b. Diviners

c. Shamans

d. Mediums

42. __________ are religious practitioners who acquire spirit power to diagnose the spirit cause of illness and effect cures.

a. Shamans

b. Diviners

c. Healers

d. Mediums

43. In Korea, female shamans are called __________.

a. kut

b. witches

c. totemic healers

d. mudang

44. Full-time religious specialists are called __________.

a. monks

b. priests

c. shamans

d. mediums

45. What is the term for activities, including religious speech, ceremonies, and behaviors, that are demonstrations of belief?

a. Worship

b. Totemism

c. Rituals

d. Sacred rituals

46. The Nuna and Bwa peoples of Burkina Faso utilize the __________ in their rituals.

a. visual and performing arts

b. rites of passage

c. gifts from the gods

d. Judeo-Christian creation story

47. __________ are activities, places, or objects that are connected to the spirit realm and are imbued with power.

a. Totemic rituals

b. Shamanistic rituals

c. Priestly rituals

d. Sacred rituals

48. Which of the following would be best described as a secular ritual?

a. Christmas

b. Independence Day

c. Easter

d. Lent

49. Which of the following is NOT a specific end toward which a ritual is aimed?

a. Purification

b. Sanctification

c. Veneration

d. Codification

50. Thanksgiving in the United States is an example of a __________.

a. ritual

b. rite of renewal

c. secular ritual

d. feasting ritual

51. __________ are rituals performed with the goal of renewing the bounty of the earth.

a. Calendric rituals

b. Rites of passage

c. Rites of renewal

d. Sacred rituals

52. The Aztecs of central Mexico believed their sun god thrived on human blood. Therefore, a daily human sacrifice was made, which nearly led to __________.

a. the spread of blood-borne pathogens

b. the downfall of the Aztec Empire

c. the Spanish losing in battle against the Aztecs

d. the Mayans to reign supreme

53. Offerings that honor spirits by giving up something important are known as __________.

a. sacrifices

b. prayers

c. rituals

d. shamans

54. Arnold van Gennep classified rites of passage as a three-step process. The correct order of this process is which of the following?

a. Separation, reincorporation, and transition

b. separation, transition, and reincorporation

c. Transition, separation, and reincorporation

d. Separation, intensification, and transition

55. Puberty rites are also known as __________.

a. calendric rites

b. rites of renewal

c. initiation rites

d. purification rites

56. Which of the following rites of passage from Jewish and Christian faiths is not considered a puberty rite?

a. Bar mitzvah

b. Bat mitzvah

c. Baptism

d. Confirmation

57. A funeral pyre is also known as __________.

a. a gathering after a funeral

b. an aboveground cremation

c. a waste of time

d. a cemetery

58. Western Apache girls undergo the nai’es ceremony at what point?

a. Marriage

b. First menstruation

c. first pregnancy

d. The death of their mother

59. The most direct form of communication with the spirit realm is through __________.

a. an oracle

b. a shaman

c. a healer

d. possession

60. In Latino populations, a traditional spiritual disease that healers treat is susto, which is believed to be __________.

a. spirit possession

b. illness brought on by jealousy

c. soul loss

d. similar to mononucleosis

61. In Korea, spirit possession more commonly affects women who __________.

a. have agreed to arranged marriages

b. experience tensions and conflicts in their home life

c. have been unable to have children

d. are shamans

62. One explanation for the value of spirit possession is that it provides __________.

a. a vehicle for emotional release

b. a reason for community wide rituals

c. a rational for the punishment of social deviants

d. a means for religious specialists to make a living

63. In Brazilian __________ ceremonies, mediums who are possessed by spirits provide advice and guidance to clients.

a. orisha

b. trance

c. macumba

d. susto

64. After her husband’s death, a widow in what type of society is NOT expected to remarry?

a. Matriarchal

b. Unilineal

c. Patrilineal

d. Patriarchal

65. Maasai women in Tanzania have experienced a rise in __________ as the economic situation has changed and gender roles have become more rigid.

a. male-on-female violence

b. female-on-male violence

c. spirit possessions

d. secular rituals

66. Most spirit causes for disease are __________.

a. incurable

b. metaphors for imbalance

c. deadly

d. never studied by anthropologists

67. Witches are in many ways the opposite of __________.

a. priests

b. mediums

c. shamans

d. healers

68. Witchcraft is also called __________.

a. sorcery

b. terrifying

c. voodoo

d. magic

69. What is the term for magic that operates on the principle of “like causes like”?

a. Witchcraft

b. Contagious magic

c. Imitative magic

d. Shamanism

70. What is the term for magic that operates on the principle that positive and negative qualities can be transferred through proximity or contact?

a. Witchcraft

b. Contagious magic

c. Imitative magic

d. Shamanism

71. An example of benign imitative magic is __________.

a. spirit possession

b. witchcraft

c. couvade

d. spirit healing

72. A belief in witchcraft may be a vehicle for __________.

a. explaining observations made of the natural world

b. the expression of anger of envy

c. more serious crimes against humanity

d. other, more complex religious beliefs to take hold later

73. __________ are revitalization movements attempting to rid society of foreign elements and return to what is conceived to be a prior state of cultural purity.

a. Fundamentalist movements

b. Messianic movements

c. Nativistic movements

d. Millenarian movements

74. Cargo cults relied upon the principle of __________ in following ritualized behaviors modeled on Europeans by which they expected to receive wealth from divine entities.

a. witchcraft

b. sorcery

c. contagious magic

d. imitative magic

75. Buddhism, Christianity, and Islam began as __________.

a. fundamentalisms

b. cults

c. revitalization movements

d. political movements

76. Siddhartha Gautama, Jesus, and Muhammad are all __________.

a. revitalizationists

b. nativistic

c. prophets

d. fundamentalists

77. Fundamentalism has arisen as a movement, especially in Christianity and Islam, as a reaction to __________.

a. increasingly global and heterogeneous interpretations of sacred texts

b. persecutions of religious worship

c. syncretic movements

d. newer messianic religions

78. The attempt to convert a person or group from one religion to another is called __________.

a. conversion

b. proselytism

c. postconversion

d. fundamentalism

79. The majority of Muslims are known as __________.

a. Shi’ite

b. Orthodox

c. Islamic

d. Sunni

80. Fundamentalism is on the rise in Christian and Muslim groups. This can be attributed to __________.

a. the moral decline in society

b. the realization that most people in the world are either Christian or Muslim

c. a response to perceived social crises

d. a contagious psychological disorder

ESSAY QUESTIONS

81. How do anthropologists study religion? What kinds of questions about the relationship between religion and society are they interested in asking?

(UNDERSTAND)

82. In what ways do religions mirror the societies in which they are practiced? Frame your answer in terms of a comparison of animatism, polytheism, ancestor worship, and monotheism, using examples of societies that practice each.

(EVALUATE)

83. Compare and contrast the idea of mana in Polynesian societies with the idea of luck in Western societies.

(ANALYZE)

84. What roles do different types of religious practitioners play in administering to the physical and psychological needs of the ill?

(UNDERSTAND)

85. Give five functions of religion in society with an example for each. What social purposes do religious rituals serve? What personal purposes do they serve?

(ANALYZE)

86. Explain rites of passage in terms of Van Gennep’s three-step process by using an example from a society with which you are familiar.

(APPLY)

87. What is magic? Witchcraft? How do they serve to explain events and reinforce social norms?

(EVALUATE)

88. What were cargo cults? What were the rituals and practices of cargo cults in general and what assumptions underlay them? What happened to cargo cults?

(UNDERSTAND)

89. What are revitalization movements? Explain the distinctions between nativistic, messianic, and millenarian movements.

(EVALUATE)

90. Discuss globalization’s influence on the global spread of fundamentalism.

(CREATE)